Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette!
In today's video, we discuss the differences between a glued suit or a fused suit, a full
canvas suit, and in between, the half canvas suit.
When you go out and buy a suit today, no matter if it's offline or online, chances are you
encounter these terms often used by salesmen to lure you in to spend more money.
Now, a lot of salesmen use these terms interchangeably and we want to help you to get the most value
for your money when you buy a suit.
Don't expect the salesman to know what they're talking about, you should know what you get
so you don't get cheated.
So first of all, why do you need an interlining or a canvas in the first place?
Basically, fabric is two-dimensional.
It's woven, it's flat.
A suit is three-dimensional so the interlining helps to keep the garment in it's three-dimensional
shape so it's flattering to your body.
Now for the interlining, you basically have three options.
It starts with glued or fused, half canvas, and full canvas.
With full canvas being the best and fused being the cheapest and not so good option.
Let's start with the cheapest option and work our way up.
Fused or glued interlinings are the number one thing in the sewing industry today simply
because they're inexpensive and you can produce it in a mass scale very easily and cost effectively.
So what are the advantages apart from it being cheap?
Well, it does the job, it gives the garment a three-dimensional shape.
The problems however are manifold.
First of all, because it is glued, there's not much flexibility in the garment and you
can feel it because it feels less comfortable and it does not stretch when you move.
Usually, you do get a chest piece that helps to form that three-dimensional shape that
looks very masculine, however, in a garment of that category, you usually get something
more inexpensive such as a cheap cotton or low-quality wool blend.
My big pet peeve with fused or glued garments is that they are much more insulating and
less breathable which makes me overheat more quickly and sweat.
Generally, whenever I touch a fused garment, it feels somewhat limp and depending on what
chest piece it has, it could be stiffer or softer.
Overall, it's just a very unexciting feel.
With a fused interlining, you also don't end up with a nice lapel roll.
Usually, they're quite flat which looks unexciting.
Usually, it's a hallmark of a cheap glued suit.
Because of the interlining, sometimes it always kind of stands in an awkward manner and there's
really nothing you can do about it, it just looks off to a trained eye.
Moreover, these fused jackets are not made to last because eventually, they will come
loose and at that point, it'll form ugly blisters on your lapel and on the outside, that's when
you have to throw the garment away.
So, when you buy a fused suit, you're part of the throwaway economy because the resources
that are used have to be thrown away and it's also bad for your wallet because even though
the initial investment is low, you have to buy it over and over again.
if we look at a graph, it starts out with being quite good but today, you wear it, it
just deteriorates over time and then at one point in time when you get the blisters, you
can throw it away and it's worthless.
Next up, let's talk about the full canvas construction which is the traditional way
a tailor made a suit.
First of all, the only disadvantage of this method is tha it's quite time-consuming and
therefore expensive, however, it has many advantages.
First of all, the interlining is sewn to the fabric and as such, it is flexible.
So when you move, it moves with you, it's comfortable, there are no pressure points,
over time, the garment actually gets better.
On top of that, you can really decide what kind of stiffness you go for.
For example, the jacket I'm wearing here right now is extremely soft, it feels more like
a sweater and it has some structure when I stand still but if you see the wrinkles here,
they just stay like that.
On a traditional suit, tailors used horse hair because it was very stiff and springy
and it could keep the shape even though you wrinkle it.
For example, when I touch this, it springs right back in shape as if nothing ever happened.
So this is actually a vintage rowing blazer made in England in the 60's.
It's much stiffer and feels like it but it has this crisp look that you sometimes know
from military garments or evening wears such as tuxedos or tailcoats.
However, if I really want to look my best, I go for something crisp and springy because
it simply has the most beautiful lines.
Also if you go with a stiffer interlining, it smoothens over any kind of bumps or imperfections
in your body so it would be much more easier to fit.
It takes about an hour per lapel to sew the canvas to the fabric so it stays in shape
and looks good.
Fortunately, it doesn't wear out and if you look at it on a graph, the handmade jacket
gets better as you wear it and you will never have issues with blisters and you wear the
fabric out before there's any issue with the canvass/ To achieve the lapel roll, you have
to take the interlining, the canvas, and the fabric, angle it and then sew it, that way
it stays in shape and will always go back to that angle.
Let's assume this is my fabric and this is my interlining, if I sew them together like
this and I move them afterwards, they will always go back in this position, If I start
sewing them together like this and I move them back to the middle, they will always
bring back and that's the idea of a lapel and that's when you get this nice lapel roll
that stays in shape.
The lapel roll is a hallmark of a handmade jacket or suit.
To cut costs, the German company Strobel came up with a machine that enabled to sew the
lapels while they're angled but first, they had to be operated by hand but it saved a
lot of time.
Today they have the KA-ED machine which sews it fully automatically and you can do a lapel
in one minute.
The great thing is, it comes with a left side and a right side because the lapels or angled
in a different direction.
A good operator can work on two machines at the same time which means you actually get
four lapels in one minute.
Throughout an 8-hour day, someone could make anywhere from 600-1000 suit lapels whereas
by hand, you can end up just making about 6-10.
Obviously, that's a lot more efficient and if you produce quality suits in a mass scale,
it really makes sense.
However, it also has its price, the machine of that caliber, costs $100,000.
It's really fun to look at this machine and see the sensors, it's basically like a typewriter
and just recognizes when it's done so it's very easy for the operator.
Now, some people say the quality is not as good as if it is made by hand.
Actually, we tested it, the jacket I'm wearing here right now has one lapel padded by hand
and the other one padded by a machine and there's really no discernible difference.
They both roll, they're both quality and the machine-made product can be as good as the
hand-made product in that instance.
Now even if you work with a machine, you have different parts such as the top part of the
jacket and the bottom part.
If you do a full canvas construction, it takes some time.
For that reason, the half canvas construction was invented.
it basically takes the best of both worlds in a sense that it takes a good chest piece
that is sewn and lasts for a while with the cheap part of the glue to keep the cost down.
It's called hal canvas but in fact, it's more like a 2/3 canvas with 1/3 of a glued interlining.
The only reason to ever go with half-canvas versus full canvas is to save on cost.
So if you don't want to compromise in terms of quality, you should always opt for the
full canvas.
However, if you can't afford full canvas, a half canvas garment is much superior to
a glued interlining because it's more breathable, more comfortable, you don't overheat, and
it lasts longer.
Personally, I'd always rather save for a full canvas construction but that's just my personal
opinion and each to his own.
At the end of the day, it's important to keep in mind that everything has its purpose but
if you can afford it, opt for the full canvas.
If not, go for the half canvas and personally, I'd suggest to always stay clear of the glued
canvas unless there's really no other way for you than to go with a glued interlining.
If you want to learn more about suits, please check out our $100 vs $1000 or our $500 vs
$5000 suit video.
and you can also learn more about the terminologies behing RTW, off-the rack, MTM, and bespoke
in this video, here.
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